Processing facilities are often managed using process control systems. Example processing facilities include manufacturing plants, chemical plants, crude oil refineries, and ore processing plants. Among other operations, process control systems typically manage the use of motors, valves, and other industrial equipment in the processing facilities.
Conventional control systems often include graphical displays that provide operators with information about monitored processes. For example, graphical displays could allow operators to ensure proper operation of the monitored processes and to resolve problems with the monitored processes. Other types of graphical displays (such as human-machine interface or “HMI” view components) can augment these process control displays, such as when they are used to present information related to advanced process control or process optimization. A view component could be embedded within another graphical display, located in the same window as another graphical display, or located in its own window.
A problem in conventional control systems is that a fault in one graphical display can often interfere with the operation of other graphical displays. For example, a software fault in one view component could cause a failure in another view component or other graphical display. While managed code and application domains can be used in the MICROSOFT .NET FRAMEWORK to isolate non-user interface components, this typically cannot be used with user interfaces or with older or non-managed code.